{"id":25491,"date":"2016-12-08T11:59:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-08T16:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/?p=25491"},"modified":"2019-03-05T12:19:24","modified_gmt":"2019-03-05T17:19:24","slug":"creating-indiegogo-danae-ringelmann-ep-02-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/creating-indiegogo-danae-ringelmann-ep-02-2\/","title":{"rendered":"[REPLAY] Ep. 2: Creating Indiegogo"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"player_container player-25491\" ><div class=\"spp_player_textabove\"><b>Listen to the Episode  <\/b><\/div><div id=\"sm2-25491\" class=\"sm2-25491 playercontent sm2-bar-ui compact flat full-width full-width-player\"><div class=\"bd sm2-main-controls\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sm2-inline-element sm2-button-element\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sm2-button-bd\" style=\"background: transparent url(https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/app\/uploads\/2021\/05\/podcast_channel_artwork.jpg) repeat scroll 0% 0% \/ cover ;\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"spp-player-background\"> <\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"#play\" class=\"sm2-inline-button play-pause\"><\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"loader\" style=\"display:none;\"><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"eq\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"bar bar-1\"><\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"bar bar-2\"><\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"bar bar-3\"><\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"bar bar-4\"><\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"sm2-inline-element sm2-inline-status progressbar\">\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sm2-button-bd\" style=\"display:none;\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"playerpitch0\" style=\"display:none;\">0.75x<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"playerpitch1\">1x<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"playerpitch2\" style=\"display:none;\">1.25x<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"playerpitch3\" style=\"display:none;\">1.5x<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"playerpitch4\" style=\"display:none;\">2x<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sm2-button-bd\" style=\"display:none;\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"secrewind\"><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sm2-playlist\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sm2-playlist-target\"><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sm2-progress\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sm2-progress-bd\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sm2-progress-track\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sm2-progress-bar1\" style=\"display:none;\"><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sm2-progress-bar\"><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sm2-progress-ball\"><div class=\"icon-overlay\"><\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sm2-row timestamp timetext\"><div class=\"sm2-inline-time timestamp\">0:00<\/div><div class=\"sm2-inline-duration timestamp\">18:39<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sm2-inline-element sm2-button-element sm2-volume\" style=\"0\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t   <div class=\"sm2-button-bd\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"sm2-inline-button sm2-volume-control volume-shade\"><\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"#volume\" class=\"sm2-inline-button sm2-volume-control\" style=\"\"><\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t   <\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t  <\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"bd sm2-playlist-drawer sm2-element\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sm2-playlist-wrapper\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"sm2-playlist-bd\"><li><a href=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/thestoryexchange\/TSE-Podcast_Danae-Ringelmann_FINAL.mp3\">[REPLAY] Ep. 2: Creating Indiegogo<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"sppbuttons\" style=\"\"><a class=\"button-itunes\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-story-exchange\/id1036000689?ls=1\">Apple Podcasts<\/a><a class=\"button-g-play\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"display:none !important;\" href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVzdG9yeWV4Y2hhbmdlLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vcnNz\">Google Podcasts<\/a><a class=\"button-embed\" rel=\"modal:open\"  id=\"button-embed\" style=\"display:none !important;\" href=\"#ex1\">Player Embed<\/a><a class=\"button-share\" data-target=\"btnshare\" style=\"display:none !important;\" href=\"#\">Share<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"btnshare\" class=\"webui-popover-content share-buttons\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/creating-indiegogo-danae-ringelmann-ep-02-2\/\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"facebook\"><i class=\"fa fa-facebook\"><\/i><\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=%5BREPLAY%5D+Ep.+2%3A+Creating+Indiegogo -&url=https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/creating-indiegogo-danae-ringelmann-ep-02-2\/\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"twitter\"><i class=\"fa fa-twitter\"><\/i><\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><a class=\"button-sppreview\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"display:none !important;\" href=\"http:\/\/getpodcast.reviews\/id\/1036000689\">Leave a Review<\/a><a class=\"button-spplisten\" style=\"display:none !important;\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"javascript:window.open('http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/thestoryexchange\/TSE-Podcast_Danae-Ringelmann_FINAL.mp3','','width=500,height=250')\">Listen in a New Window<\/a><a class=\"button-download\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"display:none !important;\" href=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/thestoryexchange\/TSE-Podcast_Danae-Ringelmann_FINAL.mp3\">Download<\/a><a class=\"button-soundcloud\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"display:none !important;\" href=\"\">SoundCloud<\/a><a class=\"button-stitcher\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"display:none !important;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.stitcher.com\/s?fid=72717&refid=stpr\">Stitcher<\/a><a class=\"button-sppandroid\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"display:none !important;\" href=\"http:\/\/subscribeonandroid.com\/thestoryexchange.libsyn.com\/rss\">Subscribe on Android<\/a><a class=\"button-spprss\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"display:none !important;\" href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.libsyn.com\/rss\">Subscribe via RSS<\/a><a class=\"button-spotify\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"display:none !important;\" href=\"\">Spotify<\/a><a class=\"spp-button-custom1\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"display:none !important;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.prx.org\/series\/34510-the-story-exchange\">PRX<\/a><a class=\"spp-button-custom2\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/music.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLaK2UyNCu2g2_preGI12R4z2iRXjIH3ah\">Youtube Music<\/a><a class=\"spp-button-custom3\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/5lJgdFK8g9WWXLBYjWytyn\">Spotify<\/a><a class=\"spp-button-custom4\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/pca.st\/B094\">Pocket Casts<\/a><a class=\"spp-button-custom5\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"display:none !important;\" href=\"\"><\/a><a class=\"spp-button-custom6\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"display:none !important;\" href=\"\"><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_25448\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-25448\" style=\"width: 980px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-25448 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/24164039\/Page-Banner_02_Danae-Ringelmann.png\" alt=\"Danae Ringelmann, Indiegogo\" width=\"980\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/24164039\/Page-Banner_02_Danae-Ringelmann.png 980w, https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/24164039\/Page-Banner_02_Danae-Ringelmann-525x268.png 525w, https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/24164039\/Page-Banner_02_Danae-Ringelmann-100x51.png 100w, https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/24164039\/Page-Banner_02_Danae-Ringelmann-862x440.png 862w, https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/24164039\/Page-Banner_02_Danae-Ringelmann-846x432.png 846w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-25448\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Danae Ringelmann, Indiegogo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The San Francisco native was inspired by her small-business-owner parents to create the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indiegogo.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Indiegogo<\/a> crowdfunding platform. Little did she know her big idea would spawn a new industry.<\/p>\n<p><div class=\"transcript-box\" style=\"float:none !important;\">\r\n<div class=\"accordion-container\">\r\n\t\t<a href=\"#\" class=\"accordion-toggle\">Read Full Transcript<span class=\"toggle-icon\"><i class=\"fa fa-angle-double-down\"><\/i><\/span><\/a>\r\n\t\t<div class=\"accordion-accordion_content\">\r\n\t\t\t<p><p>Danae Ringelmann: Having watched my parents struggle so much to grow their business cause they never could actually get a loan to do it, I really did wanna understand money and why it was so hard to get money and help figure that out. <\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: Welcome to The Story Exchange, featuring the stories and strategies of entrepreneurial women around the world. I\u2019m Colleen DeBaise, an editor at The Story Exchange, and we\u2019ll be joined later by our co-founder, Sue Williams. <\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: Crowdfunding. Unless you\u2019ve been living in a basement (and no judgment here if you have) - you\u2019ve probably heard the term before. It\u2019s now a popular way to raise money. You go to a site like Kickstarter, or Indiegogo, or GoFundme -- you create a campaign and then you share it with everyone you know, usually on social media.<br \/>\nToday, we are going to tell you the story of Danae Ringelmann, the woman who is the brains behind Indiegogo, which was the very first crowdfunding site to launch, back in 2008.<br \/>\nIf you\u2019re an entrepreneur yourself, you probably know how difficult it can be to get a great idea off the ground. Whether you\u2019re opening a coffee shop or a new accounting practice, it can be tough to win customers. Now, imagine trying to sell someone on a concept that -- well -- is so new that there are no terms to even describe it. That\u2019s a way bigger challenge -- and that\u2019s exactly what Danae faced, back when she started Indiegogo seven years ago. <\/p>\n<p>Danae Ringelmann: When we launched, the word \u201ccrowdfunding\u201d didn\u2019t exist. We were creating a whole new way to raise money\u2026We were essentially inventing an industry. Probably didn\u2019t realize it at the time.<\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: We\u2019ll take a look at how Danae came up with the idea in the first place, how she got people to try it out, and how she\u2019s built Indiegogo into a venture-funded company that is practically a household name. We headed to San Francisco, where Indiegogo is based, to interview Danae -- you can watch our video (which tells her complete story) on our website, TheStoryExchange.org. Today, we are going share to snippets from that conversation, so you can get a sense of how Danae did it. It wasn\u2019t easy nor was it an overnight success\u2026if you\u2019re in need of a little inspiration right now, this is a story you should listen to.<\/p>\n<p>Musical Interlude<\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: Our story begins 30-something years ago, when Danae was growing up in the Bay area. Her parents owned a moving company\u2026that fact made a huge impact on her life. <\/p>\n<p>Danae Ringelmann: My parents...actually ran a business because they wanted to have control over their lives so that family could be first. They were always at our basketball games. They were always at our piano recitals. <\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: And every night, Danae, her two siblings and her parents had dinner together.<\/p>\n<p>Danae Ringelmann: When stuff was going at the business, stressful times, my parents would talk about it in front of us\u2014\u201cHow do we make payroll this week? You know, what are we gonna do \u2018cause we lost that big job and we need that job to close the month.\u201d It was a very real and authentic place.<\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: You could say Danae -- from a very young age -- was exposed to the rewards and the HUGE challenges of entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n<p>Danae Ringelmann: I just remember watching my parents struggle so much to grow their business \u2018cause they never could actually get a loan to do it...not without personally guaranteeing everything. And even if they got at that conversation, they got rejected so many times they just said, \u201cForget it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: That inspired Danae to learn more about the fundamentals of money. She always loved math, and she knew she wanted to be her own boss one day, just like her parents. So, she studied humanities with a minor in business at the University of North Carolina.<\/p>\n<p>Danae Ringelmann: So I was fortunate to get a scholarship to college, which was important for a couple reasons -- one, my parents\u2019 business was going through a bankruptcy and so financially very stressful time for the whole family; and two, it opened up an entire world of interesting opportunities for me.<\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: One was an internship at Goldman Sachs in London, working in equity research, which was Danae\u2019s first experience in finance. That eventually led to a job after graduation at J.P. Morgan in New York. <\/p>\n<p>Danae Ringelmann: That was a learning experience around\u2026how money moves and who decides when things get funded and when things don\u2019t get funded. And I realized that the way money moved isn\u2019t as\u2026efficient and therefore isn\u2019t as fair as it should be. And so that\u2019s what actually ended up leading me to go start Indiegogo.<\/p>\n<p>Musical Interlude <\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: So that\u2019s the first part of Danae\u2019s story, and we\u2019ll continue in just a bit with how she built Indiegogo, which now has raised over $50 million dollars in venture capital. Not to mention that more than 300,000 people have launched campaigns on the site.<br \/>\nBut first, let\u2019s take a step back, because there\u2019s one more reason why Danae was inspired to start Indiegogo. At The Story Exchange, we like to zero in on the nitty gritty that inspires one to become an entrepreneur -- if you\u2019ve never checked out our site, please do so, it\u2019s TheStoryExchange.org - we\u2019re a nonprofit media company and we do articles and videos about women business owners. I\u2019m being joined now by Sue Williams, co-founder of The Story Exchange who spent a day with Danae in San Francisco and produced our video profile of her...Welcome, Sue. <\/p>\n<p>Sue Williams: Hi Colleen. <\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: So Sue, we\u2019ve been talking about how Danae watched her parents struggle, and how she went to work on Wall Street, where she realized that access to capital just isn\u2019t so equitable sometimes. <\/p>\n<p>Sue Williams: Yes. It\u2019s nice to know that at least one person on Wall Street realized that.<\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: So - Danae actually got involved with struggling artists when she was working at J.P. Morgan\u2026tell me more about that.<\/p>\n<p>Sue Williams: Yes. Danae worked in the media and entertainment group at the time, so she was invited to an event called \u201cWhere Hollywood Meets Wall Street.\u201d She was only 21, so she went to find out a little bit more about how films are financed. And she expected it to be an event where you had all these Hollywood producers talking to Wall Street powerbrokers. But that\u2019s not what she encountered. Let\u2019s listen.<\/p>\n<p>Danae Ringelmann: It was a sea of emerging artists all hoping to meet their next angel. And because I was one of a few people from the bank, I clearly was a popular person to talk to. So, I just remember all these people trying to give me their cards, and I was like, \u201cYou don\u2019t understand. I run spreadsheets. I crunch numbers. I don\u2019t have any power here. I, I can\u2019t give you any money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sue Williams: But, she wanted to help, so she gave out a lot of business cards that night. A few days later, one elderly filmmaker sent her a script. He paid $15 to FedEx it to her...$15 he probably didn\u2019t have.<\/p>\n<p>Danae Ringelmann: And it had a note that said, \u201cIt was wonderful to meet you, Danae. I look forward to you financing my next film.\u201d And that\u2019s when it, I think that\u2019s when my heart broke, honestly 'cause I started to cry. And I called my mom and I just remember talking to her about, you know, America\u2019s not a land of all possibility. It\u2019s the land of all possibility if you know the right person, you know.\u201d And at the very end of the conversation she said, \u201cWell, if you\u2019re that pissed off about it go do something about it.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Sue Williams: So Danae did \u2014 completely on her own time \u2014 she decided to put together an event, working with a theatre director she had met\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Danae Ringelmann: Arthur Miller had given him permission to stage a concert reading, which is a one-night event where you take a theater, you pack it with an audience, you get actors to volunteer their time to read the play in front of that audience, and then you get investors there to witness the whole night. <\/p>\n<p>Sue Williams: And the event was a big success\u2026well, theatrically at least.<\/p>\n<p>Danae Ringelmann: And I got investors there. And the whole night went perfect. And then I looked at the investors and I said, \u201cWhat do you think?\u201d And they said, \u201cThat was amazing. We\u2019re not investing. Good luck.\u201d They showed me that finance was broken.<\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: Wow, well, she is clearly a sensitive person.<\/p>\n<p>Sue Williams: She really is. The whole experience ultimately led her to quit banking and move back to San Francisco, where she enrolled in business school at UC Berkeley. <\/p>\n<p>Danae Ringelmann: I had to leave finance to change finance and go start a company that would literally shift the power, put \u2018em back into the hands of the people to decide what matters.<\/p>\n<p>Sue Williams: Her original idea was to create a regular old-fashioned offline fund where investors in the fund had the power to choose which projects should get funded. But her professors and classmates at Berkeley questioned this concept. A fellow student there, Eric Schell, and his friend, Slava Rubin, convinced her that using the Internet would be a better approach. They became her co-founders, and they launched IndieGogo in 2008, the year that Danae graduated.<\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: It\u2019s a really interesting back story. What\u2019s Indiegogo like?<\/p>\n<p>Sue Williams: Indiegogo has that kind of Silicon Valley start-up feel to it \u2013 it fills several floors in an old loft-like office building in downtown San Francisco \u2013 you know, it\u2019s got ping pong tables and a huge kitchen with healthy snacks and great coffee and micro-brewed beers. <\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: Yeah that sounds like a Silicon Valley start-up. So, what\u2019s Danae like, Sue?<\/p>\n<p>Sue Williams: Well, Danae is obviously incredibly focused and hard working \u2013 you can\u2019t get to be where she is today if you are not. She is surrounded by assistants and PR people and her schedule is completely jammed. But she really comes across as quite unassuming, quite soft-spoken even when there are a dozen things going on. Her desk is in a row of standing workspaces in the middle of a large office with lots of other people \u2013 no privacy.<\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: She practices what she practices in terms of democracy for all..<\/p>\n<p>Sue Williams: Yes, she really does. And one other less important but striking thing: Literally attached to her at all times, is her little dog Monk who she keeps on a leash clipped to her belt and who runs down the hallways ahead of her.<br \/>\nColleen DeBaise: Great. Love the visual. Well, thanks for joining us, Sue. <\/p>\n<p>Sue Williams: Oh, that\u2019s a pleasure. <\/p>\n<p>Musical Interlude<\/p>\n<p>Danae Ringelmann: It sounds like a super cheesy story, but it\u2019s totally true\u2026We got out at the lookout point above the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin looking back at San Francisco, which is beautiful\u2026.<\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: So that\u2019s Danae recounting the day in 2007 that she and Berkeley classmate Eric first met up with Slava, who at the time was a strategy consultant, and they had their  \u201ca-ha\u201d moment.<\/p>\n<p>Danae Ringelmann: It was in this conversation Eric, Slava and I...where I think it was Slava that said, \u2018Well, if you really want to democratize, you know, funding, what aren\u2019t you using the Internet?\u2019 And that\u2019s when I said, \u2018Well, I think that\u2019s a brilliant idea.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: Now, remember, this is 2007\u2026which in social media years, is like a century ago. This was before everyone (like your mother, your friends from kindergarten, your ex-boyfriend) were on Facebook. Before everyone was on Twitter. Instagram and Pinterest \u2014 they weren\u2019t even invented yet. And while people were shopping online, and Paypal existed, not too many people really trusted the Internet yet to transfer money. And nobody thought that people would part with their cash to fund a perfect stranger\u2019s project. <\/p>\n<p>Danae Ringelmann: I went back to my professor, and I had about two weeks left in the semester. Here I had been working for months if not years thinking about this offline idea yet in the course of one conversation there was a whole new direction using the Internet, which I knew very little about. And I asked my professor, \u201cWhat, what should I do? And he said, \u201cWell, go with your gut. Go with your heart.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: Danae had to give a final presentation to venture capitalists -- she scrapped her original idea and pitched Indiegogo as an Internet-based platform. <\/p>\n<p>Danae Ringelmann: And when I pitched it and presented it, you know, all the VCs in the room had a lot of questions and they poked a lot of holes. But in the end they said, \u201cYou\u2019re on to something so stick with this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Musical Interlude<\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: So the next step was figuring out how to get people to actually use Indiegogo. Danae and her co-founders came up with the idea of incentives. So, say you\u2019re an aspiring coffee shop owner. You launch a campaign on Indiegogo to raise money to open a store. So, how do you get people to contribute? You promise them a free cup of coffee, or a bag of coffee beans, or maybe a travel-sized coffee mug\u2026.whatever you think will entice people.<\/p>\n<p>Danae Ringelmann:  One late night in my kitchen we came up with this concept of perks, and we said, \u201cLet\u2019s give it a go.\u201d Now that\u2019s become the pillar of the industry.<\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: One reason why they focused on perks is because Danae knew, from her finance days, that businesses who use Indiegogo could not offer equity stakes to the general public -- in other words, they couldn\u2019t say \u201cInvest in my coffee shop, and you\u2019ll become a part owner.\u201d  At the time, that was prohibited by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The ban was lifted in 2012, although the rules still haven\u2019t been worked out yet.<br \/>\nSo -- Danae and her co-founders decided to go forward with this idea of perks. A year later, a company by the name of Kickstarter, which you may have heard of, came on the scene -- and it does a very similar thing.<br \/>\nMeanwhile, the next challenge was getting the word out. The Indiegogo team was smart enough to introduce the site at the Sundance Film Festival, where it got some attention.<\/p>\n<p>Danae Ringelmann: When we launched the site we said, \u201cLet\u2019s just start with one industry. Let\u2019s launch a platform that serves just filmmakers. And then once we figure that out we\u2019ll expand to everything else.\u201d The launch plan was, \u201cLaunch to film in January of 2008. Turn on music in March. Turn on books in April. And turn on,\u201d I don\u2019t know, the next thing, \u201cin May.\u201d And all of that went out the window when we launched because when you\u2019re creating something new all of your marketing has to go into education. So we spent the first year and a half educating, educating, educating. <\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: Still, everything happened a lot slower than Danae and her co-founders expected. <\/p>\n<p>Danae Ringelmann: And we worked our butts off to get our first customer success, and then second customer success, and third customer success. And every time we had a success we\u2019d take that story and tell it to inspire other people that it\u2019s possible.<\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: None of them had planned for the financial crisis, which happened right around the same time\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Danae Ringelmann: And that kinda became a period of I would call the dark period, where we just had to keep growing on our own, bootstrapping, keep getting more case studies, wait for the economy to come back.<\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: She had saved up enough to money to go one year without a salary....she should have planned on three years.<\/p>\n<p>Danae Ringelmann: We were rejected by 90 investors before we raised any money. So clearly a lot of people didn't believe that what we were doing had legs.<\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: And on a personal note, Danae lost one of her biggest mentors and believers when her dad passed away, the very same year Indiegogo launched.<\/p>\n<p>Danae Ringelmann: He was always encouraging. He was always saying, \u201cIt\u2019s never been better to be a woman. You can do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Musical Interlude<\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: We\u2019ve been talking with Danae Ringelmann, who came up with a great idea for a new company\u2026but had to devote a lot of blood, sweat and tears to seeing it through. At one point, she even moved back home and borrowed money from her mother. You could say it took several years before Indiegogo was an overnight success. But in 2011, three years after the company launched\u2026things finally started to happen. In March of that year, Indiegogo won its first $1.5 million dollar round of financing. And then suddenly.campaigns on Indiegogo started to go viral. And global. People were talking about them.<br \/>\nFirst, there was an African humanitarian named Pastor Marrion who needed a kidney transplant -- his supporters used Indiegogo to raise almost $50,000 dollars for the surgery\u2026he\u2019s known as the Schindler of the Congo...here\u2019s a clip from the video used on Indiegogo...\u201cYes, people are suffering you know, life is really difficult here, and poverty is too high\u201d<br \/>\nThen there was the bus monitor, Karen Huff of upstate New York, who was bullied by students, and it was all caught on video -- we\u2019d play a clip, but there\u2019s too many profanities in it. Anyhow, perfect strangers donated over $700,000 for Mrs. Huff. Then a Florida couple called the Haleys who were having trouble conceiving raised about $8,000 for fertility treatments. <\/p>\n<p>Danae Ringelmann: And so they had the procedure, they actually got pregnant and they had a baby nine months later. So that individual, that baby, wouldn't exist today without Indiegogo and without our open philosophy about everybody deserving a right to raise money. <\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: These days, Indiegogo is doing very well. The company, which makes money by taking a cut of the campaigns, doesn\u2019t disclose revenue\u2026but it\u2019s raised $56.5 million dollars in venture capital. A few months ago, it launched Indiegogo Life, which lets people raise money for personal causes -- medical expenses or emergencies -- free of charge.<br \/>\nThe early days weren\u2019t easy, but for Danae, the journey has been worth it.<\/p>\n<p>Danae Ringelmann: What we're trying to do is enable everybody, whoever you are, wherever you are, to fund whatever matters to you. <\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: Remember when we told you, at the beginning, that the term crowdfunding didn\u2019t even exist when Danae first started? Well, Danae told me she\u2019s not sure who coined it...she just woke up one morning, and people started calling it that. That\u2019s fine with her. She\u2019s happy to see the concept take off.<\/p>\n<p>Danae Ringelmann: We've always had to rely on other people making the decisions of what things get made. Now we all can participate in that decision making process 'cause we can fund whatever we want. And when we think about the world that way, you know, who knows how much is possible? <\/p>\n<p>Colleen DeBaise: Join us next time to hear more stories about innovative and inspirational women doing the things you\u2019d never dream of. Or...maybe you would. This has been The Story Exchange. If you like what you\u2019ve heard, visit our website at TheStoryExchange.org, where you\u2019ll find news, videos and tips for women entrepreneurs.  I\u2019m Colleen DeBaise. Editing helped provided by Nusha Balyan. Production coordinator is Michelle Ciotta. Interview recorded by Sam Shinn. Executive producers are Sue Williams and Victoria Wang. <\/p>\n<p>#<\/p>\n<\/p>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t<!--\/.accordion-accordion_content-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<br \/>\n<strong>Related Article: <a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/danae-ringelmann-indiegogo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">How Danae Ringelmann Came Up With Indiegogo<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How Danae Ringelmann got the idea for the crowdfunding platform that spawned a new industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":25445,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":false,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[147],"tags":[20102,19683,19700],"class_list":["post-25491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-podcast","tag-crowdfunding","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-innovation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.3 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>[REPLAY] Ep. 2: Creating Indiegogo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How Danae Ringelmann got the idea for the crowdfunding platform that spawned a new industry.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/creating-indiegogo-danae-ringelmann-ep-02-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"[REPLAY] Ep. 2: Creating Indiegogo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How Danae Ringelmann got the idea for the crowdfunding platform that spawned a new industry.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/creating-indiegogo-danae-ringelmann-ep-02-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Story Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheStoryExchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-08T16:59:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-03-05T17:19:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/24164048\/Danae-WebsiteThumb.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"525\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"336\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"The Story Exchange\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@TheStoryXchange\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@TheStoryXchange\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The Story Exchange\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"[REPLAY] Ep. 2: Creating Indiegogo","description":"How Danae Ringelmann got the idea for the crowdfunding platform that spawned a new industry.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/creating-indiegogo-danae-ringelmann-ep-02-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"[REPLAY] Ep. 2: Creating Indiegogo","og_description":"How Danae Ringelmann got the idea for the crowdfunding platform that spawned a new industry.","og_url":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/creating-indiegogo-danae-ringelmann-ep-02-2\/","og_site_name":"The Story Exchange","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheStoryExchange","article_published_time":"2016-12-08T16:59:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-03-05T17:19:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":525,"height":336,"url":"https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/24164048\/Danae-WebsiteThumb.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"The Story Exchange","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@TheStoryXchange","twitter_site":"@TheStoryXchange","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"The Story Exchange"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/creating-indiegogo-danae-ringelmann-ep-02-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/creating-indiegogo-danae-ringelmann-ep-02-2\/"},"author":{"name":"The Story Exchange","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#\/schema\/person\/cc5cf7031d846ecfccbe8e4c026ec6f5"},"headline":"[REPLAY] Ep. 2: Creating Indiegogo","datePublished":"2016-12-08T16:59:00+00:00","dateModified":"2019-03-05T17:19:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/creating-indiegogo-danae-ringelmann-ep-02-2\/"},"wordCount":53,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/creating-indiegogo-danae-ringelmann-ep-02-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/24164048\/Danae-WebsiteThumb.jpg","keywords":["Crowdfunding","Entrepreneurship","Innovation"],"articleSection":["Podcast"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/creating-indiegogo-danae-ringelmann-ep-02-2\/","url":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/creating-indiegogo-danae-ringelmann-ep-02-2\/","name":"[REPLAY] Ep. 2: Creating Indiegogo","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/creating-indiegogo-danae-ringelmann-ep-02-2\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/creating-indiegogo-danae-ringelmann-ep-02-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/24164048\/Danae-WebsiteThumb.jpg","datePublished":"2016-12-08T16:59:00+00:00","dateModified":"2019-03-05T17:19:24+00:00","description":"How Danae Ringelmann got the idea for the crowdfunding platform that spawned a new industry.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/creating-indiegogo-danae-ringelmann-ep-02-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/creating-indiegogo-danae-ringelmann-ep-02-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/creating-indiegogo-danae-ringelmann-ep-02-2\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/24164048\/Danae-WebsiteThumb.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/24164048\/Danae-WebsiteThumb.jpg","width":525,"height":336,"caption":"Danae Ringelmann Iniegogo"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/creating-indiegogo-danae-ringelmann-ep-02-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"[REPLAY] Ep. 2: Creating Indiegogo"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/","name":"The Story Exchange","description":"Inspiration and information for women entrepreneurs","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#organization","name":"The Story Exchange","url":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/24161459\/TSE-logo-web-e1525383604615.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/24161459\/TSE-logo-web-e1525383604615.png","width":500,"height":180,"caption":"The Story Exchange"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheStoryExchange","https:\/\/x.com\/TheStoryXchange","https:\/\/instagram.com\/thestoryexchange\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/the-story-exchange","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/StoryExchange"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#\/schema\/person\/cc5cf7031d846ecfccbe8e4c026ec6f5","name":"The Story Exchange","description":"The Story Exchange is a global video project empowering women to achieve economic independence through entrepreneurship. By producing and promoting video profiles of successful entrepreneurs from all walks of life and sectors we encourage others to gain economic freedom, create the lifestyle of their choosing, and uncover their full potential.","sameAs":["https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/about-us\/"],"url":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/author\/werock\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}